For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like I learned a lot about Nigerian culture, food and language, particularly that of the Igbo people, which this book revolves primarily around.

I liked the exploration of coming-of-age from a different perspective to my own and what I usually read, and how the societal and cultural expectations of men and women came into play with this, and how they impacted Vivek and his friends.

I really wanted this to be a five star read, and it probably would have been if not for one aspect of the story that didn’t appeal to me. I admit that this may be just a large difference in cultural values and outlooks on life, but it still impacted the way I viewed this part of the story.

I didn’t see the necessity in making Ostia and Vivek cousins and lovers, whose parents are brothers and who share a grandmother. I felt like there could’ve been another character for this purpose, or they could’ve been cousins in a social way, like the way the other Nigerwives’ children referred to everyone’s parents as “Aunty”. 

Upon further research, it seems that these inter-blood relationships are more common in some African cultures than in Western cultures, though I am happy to be educated more on this aspect. I’ve only dropped the rating to 4.5 as I can see that my upbringing has influenced my outlook on this plot point and that may differ from the author’s, but even then it just felt a bit weird to read about at the time.

Even though there was one aspect I didn’t resonate with at the time, I am really intrigued and interested by the way this book challenged my own views and pushed me to see the world from views outside my own and I look forward to reading more books like this and from this author.